If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

ATTENTION: Windows 10 users

Beta 2 build is now available!

If you just upgraded to Windows 10 or running build 10240 or greater of Win 10 pre-release you will need to download and install the new version of ZoneAlarm 14.0.157.000

Hybrid View

File sharing is not stopped...why?

Hi all...I have a problem.
The program: ZA ver 7 - free. The OS: Win XP Home and Professional.
The problem:
The file sharing on my PC (and on another PC) is NOT stopped. In trusted zone this is normal, but in Internet zone it shouldn't happen. As a result anyone can access my shared file, even if I set the system in Internet zone. To be sure I set the security level to &quot;High&quot; in both Internet and Trusted Zone, but it doesn't help. Some time ago it was not like that, and everything was working well. Unfortunately I have no way to understand when things changed (some installed program? mmm...).
I figured out the problem because I just installed ZA 7 free on a PC of a colleague (Having XP Prof, mine is an XP Home), and when I started setting its PC up, I found it was not blocking anything. So I checked mine, and: same problem.
I have other PCs on which the problem is not present. So I guess there is some program running, or some setting, that is interfering with ZA. Is that possible?
What could I do?

Re: File sharing is not stopped...why?

Dear rugabri:

Make sure the Internet Zone is set to High security. Click Firewall panel, Main tab, set the slider control for Internet Zone Security to High. That will block network access so long as you have the network that provides your Internet in the Internet zone. The Trusted Zone Security should be set to Medium. Both of these are defaults when the program is installed.

A better solution is to disable file sharing on the PCs themselves. Open Windows Explorer, click Tools menu, then Folder Options. Click the View tab, then uncheck, Use simple file sharing(Recommended). This will remove the Sharing tab on the folder properties sheet and replace it with a Security tab. Finally, click Start, Run, type services.msc, click OK, then scroll down to the Server service. Right click, then click Properties, click on the Stop button to stop the service, then click the down arrow by Startup type and click Disabled. You can't create a share with this service disabled, you receive an error dialog telling you the service is disabled.

Re: File sharing is not stopped...why?

Dear Watcher,
thank you for the reply. Unfortunately, however, the internet security level is already set to high, and the trusted zone to medium. In addition I want to keep the file sharing only for a list of allowed IP addresses that I will set as IP to be considered in trusted zone.
This has always worked...but now it is not working any longer...why?
Gab

Re: File sharing is not stopped...why?

Dear rugabri:

In the Firewall panel, Zones tab, please list the entries that you have listed there. For the Entry Type=Network, Subnet, and IP Address names, list the IP addresses using the x.x.x.x format, where x's are equal to identical octets. For example, if you had an Entry Type=Network with a network address of 192.168.2.0/255.255.255.0, and placed in the Internet zone and an IP Address of 192.168.2.4 placed in the Trusted zone, just label them x.x.x.0 and x.x.x.4.

You'll have to tell me more about the network topology you are using.

According to ZAP's Help file, there can be no file sharing with the Internet zone set to High. You stated both Internet and Trusted zones were set to High.

Are you using a P2P file sharing program for transferring files? If so, then check the program under the Program Control, Programs tab, and make sure the Server-Internet column for that program has a red X.

Re: File sharing is not stopped...why?

Hi Watcher,
I have to say something is strange...Today I tried installing the 15days free trial of ZA security suite on my PC.
ZA installed but during the installation I noticed a that the preliminary scan of the PC lasted just few seconds (in the window it was anticipated between 5 and 10 minutes).
The second strange thing is that in the Zones Tab, where the &quot;Network&quot; is listed, my IP address was wrong. As you know, you see IP address/subnet mask...but the last octet was wrong. Let suppose my IP is 192.168.2.100 and my subnet mask is 255.255.255.128, what I see is 192.168.2.128/255.255.255.128...maybe by chance, but the last octet in the wrong IP is equal to that of the subnet mask, instead of being the correct one.
I only have an additional entry in the Zones tab, i.e. the loopback adapter.
Finally, again, shared resources are not hidden even in internet zone. On the other hand pinging from outside is blocked...

Some idea?
unfortunately, for the time being, I have to use Windows Firewall after years of use of ZA:-(

Re: File sharing is not stopped...why?

Dear rugabri:

I need to know the network topology because you mentioned several PCs in your first post on this thread.

ZA autodetects new networks and you can't reconfigure those, because I've tried. They disappear once you are disconnected from the network. The Entry Type=Network entry should have the network IP address(with a last octet of zero) and the subnet mask for the IP address used(Class A,B, or C). For example, our school uses a network address of 192.x.x.0, and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. The PCs are set for automatic assignment of IP addresses(DHCP), so the PCs will have an IP address from 192.x.x.1-254. If you are on a LAN which is not being detected, you can add an Entry Type=Subnet and add it yourself. Be sure and put this entry in the Trusted zone. Other entries that need to be placed here are Entry Type=IP Address for DNS(maybe more than 1) and DHCP. To find these, click Start, Run, type CMD, then click OK. At the command prompt, type ipconfig /all, then hit Enter.

ICMP(incoming) is blocked by default by both ZA and the Windows Firewall. That explains the PING failures.